A study is to start next week into the prospects of turning a former colliery village into one of the greenest communities in the region.

The study will determine how much energy in the village of Edmondsley, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham, can be provided through renewable sources.

Chester-le-Street District Council has received a £10,000 grant from the Government's Energy Saving Trust Innovation Programme to pay for the study.

All the village's residents are to be questioned about home insulation and the option of renewable energy use.

The study will then debate the use of alternative energy sources, such as solar panels, small-scale wind power, straw and wood burning, and heat pumps.

The possibility is also being considered of using waste from the village to produce gas as a source of renewable energy.

The project is being linked with other environmental issues such as sewage treatment and local nature reserve areas such as Waldridge Fell.

Councillor Alan Holden, the district's member for the environment, said: "The feasibility study in Edmondsley is an excellent opportunity for the local community to potentially develop an energy and money-saving scheme that will benefit them, while improving the local environment at the same time.

"If there is wide-ranging support for the scheme, then I would be delighted. So, within the next week or so, householders in Edmondsley can expect a council representative to contact them on the proposed scheme."